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Senate Clears for the President's Consideration DHS Appropriations Bill Extending E-Verify and Three Expiring Visa Programs and Providing Immigration Relief to Widows and Orphans
of Deceased U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents
By Micheal E. Hill
Monday, October 20, 2009 - 10:25 pm EDT
The Senate has cleared for the President's consideration a compromise version of the fiscal year 2010 bill that funds the nation's borde r enforcement, interior immigration enforcement, and immigration services functions. The Senate acted on Tuesday, October 20, 2009, clearing the measure for the President's expected signature.
Tuesday's Senate action occurred in connection with H. Rept. 111-298, the conference report accompanying H.R. 2892, the Fiscal Year 2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act. The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 79-19. The House of Representatives approved the measure on Thursday, October 15, 2009, by a vote of 307-114.
As cleared for the President's consideration, H.R. 2892 contains a three year-long extension of the controversial E-Verify Program, as well as three year-long extensions of the EB-5 Investor Visas Regional Centers Program, the Special Immigrant Non-Minister Religious Worker Visa Program, and the Conrad 30 State J-1 Visa Program. The measure also directly appropriates about $50 MILLION for refugee and asylum adjudications and provides for the admission of widows and orphans of deceased United States citizens and permanent residents under some circumstances.
From an immigration perspective, H.R. 2892 is more controversial for what it does not contain. Conferees negoitiating the final version of the measure rejected a number of controversial immigration enforcement policy provisions that the Senate adopted when the Senate considered the measure last Summer, including E-Verify, border fencing, and SSA No-Match letters.
Conferees reached agreement on settling the differences between the House-passed and Senate-passed versions of the fiscal year 2010 Homeland Security Appropriations Act on Wednesday, October 7, 2009, filing the conference report late in the evening on Tuesday, October 13, 2009.
Resolution of Key Immigration-Related Policy Differences between the House and Senate Bills
The following is a brief summary of some of the agreements reached on major immigration policy and spending provisions:
- The E-Verify System. Section 546 of the Senate-passed bill sought to extend permanently, require that all federal contractors participate, and permit employers to use the system to verify the immigration status of existing employees; not just new-hires. The House-passed bill would have extended the program for two years. But it did not contain any of the policy provisions.
The conferees opted to extend the E-Verify program for three years but rejected the Senate E-Verify policy provisions.
- SSA No-Match Letters. Section 561 of the Senate-passed bill would have provided that none of the amounts made available under the Act could be used to implement changes to a Bush era rule describing the process for employers to follow after receiving a ‘‘no match’’ letter in order to qualify for ‘‘safe harbor, which the Senate-passed bill. The House-passed bill did not contain comparable language. The conferees rejected the Senate language.
The conferees rejected the Senate's SSA No-Match language.
The conferees rejected the Senate's border fencing language.
Sec. 548 of the conference agreement extends the EB-5 Regional Centers program through October 1, 2012.
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Relief for Widows and Orphans of U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents. The Senate-passed bill would have protected widows, widowers and orphans of deceased U.S. citizens who are in the family immigration system by allowing widows, widowers and orphans, to immigrate on a family-based visa despite the death of a petitioner. The House-passed bill contained no such provisions.
Sec. 568(c), (d), and (e) of the conference agreement protects widows, widowers and orphans of deceased U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who are in the family immigration system by allowing widows, widowers and orphans, to immigrate on a family-based visa despite the death of a petitioner.
Resolution of Key Immigration-Related Funding Differences
There were a number of significant differences in the level of funding in the House- and Senate-passed bills for various immigration- and refugee-related bureaus and programs within the Department. The most prominent difference was found in the area of appropriations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
The House-passed bill would have appropriated $2.8 BILLION for USCIS, including $298 MILLION in directly appropriated funds. However, the Senate-passed bill would have appropriated $2.639 BILLION for USCIS, including only $135.7 MILLION in directly appropriated funds.
The conferees agreed to include $2.726 BILLION for USCIS, including $224 MILLION in directly appropriated funding for USCIS.
Within the appropriation for USCIS--
- Refugee and Asylum Adjudications. The conferees dramatically cut the Administration's request for funding for refugee and asylum adjudications. The Administration had asked for $206 MILLION for that purpose. The House-passed bill would have appropriated $100 MILLION for those adjudications. The Senate-passed bill would have appropriated no funds. The conferees agreed to appropriate $50 MILLION.
- Military Naturalizations. The conferees agreed to directly appropriate $5 MILLION for military naturalization adjudications. This is approximately what the Administration asked for and what was provided for in the Senate-passed version of the bill. The House-passed version of the bill would not have appropriated any funds for this purpose.
- Immigrant Integration. The conferees agreed to appropriate $11 MILLION "to expand immigrant integration and outreach efforts that promote legal paths to US citizenship." The amount is an increase of $9.2 MILLION in fiscal year 2010 compared to the $1.9 MILLION that was provided for this purpose in fiscal year 2009, and that it is $1 MILLION more than the Administration requested.
- Funding for the USCIS Ombudsman. The conferees agreed to appropriate $6.685 MILLION for the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman, which is $250,000 less than the amount the Administration requested and $214,000 more than was provided in fiscal year 2009 for that purpose.
- Funding for E-Verify. The conferees agreed to appropriate $137 MILLION to operate the E-Verify System "and further improve its accuracy and compliance rates."
Next Steps
Now that Congress has completed its consideration of the Homeland Security Appropriations Act, the next step in the legislative process is for Congress to forward the bill to President Obama for his consideration. The President is expected to sign the measure once it reaches his desk.
RELATED DOCUMENTS:
Click Here to see the text of H. Rept. 111-209, the conference report accompanying H.R. 2892
Click Here to see a summary of the conference agreement that was prepared by staff members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees
Click Here to see the vote by which the House adopted the conference report accompanying H.R. 2892
Click Here to see the vote by which the Senate adopted the conference report accompanying H.R. 2892
RELATED STORIES FROM MicEvHill.Com:
Side-by-Side Comparison of Key Immigration-Related Provisions in the Various Versions of H.R. 2892
House Agrees to Conference Report on DHS Appropriations; Senate to Act Next Week
Conferees Jettison Controversial Immigration Enforcement Policy Provisions in Agreement on Homeland Security Appropriations Bill
House-Senate Conference on Homeland Security Appropriations Bill Hits Snag
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